Yanks may eye lefty to replace Big Unit

[Tzylu (有實力才有尊敬)]

BY BILL MADDEN and ANTHONY McCARRON
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITERS


While the Yankees continued engaging multiple teams in trade talks about
Randy Johnson yesterday, they also came up with a possible option to replace
him in their starting rotation: Barry Zito.

According to a baseball official familiar with the Yankees' thinking, if the
Yanks are able to complete a trade involving Johnson - they have talked to
the Diamondbacks and Padres, among others - they will investigate what it
would take to sign Zito, the best starter left on the free-agent market.

If the Yankees' interest in Zito becomes serious, it would put them in direct
competition with the Mets, who have been interested in the 28-year-old lefty
all along. The Mariners, Rangers and Giants are also believed to be pursuing
Zito.

If Zito is not the answer, perhaps Roger Clemens is. The Yankees want to
convince The Rocket to make a dramatic return to the Bronx to join his
friend, Andy Pettitte, who came back from the Astros earlier this month.
Clemens, however, has not decided whether to pitch or retire, though Pettitte
said last week he believes his buddy will play.

In any event, the Johnson trade talks have had an effect on the free-agent
market, with executives around baseball wondering "how this affects Zito," as
one National League official put it. "Do the Yankees move in on that?" the
official added.

At the very least, the Yanks' potential involvement could delay Zito's
decision as his high-powered agent, Scott Boras, tries to pit clubs against
each other.

In an effort to have as many options open as possible, the Yankees are hoping
to resolve talks about Johnson by the end of the weekend. In return for the
6-10 lefty, who has 34 victories in two seasons in New York but never has
appeared fully comfortable, the Yankees want a player who can help them next
season - at the very least. According to the official, the Bombers might be
willing to kick in part of Johnson's $16 million salary for 2007 if it meant
they would get better players in the deal.

Johnson has a full no-trade clause in his contract and, according to two
baseball officials, the Yankees have not approached his representatives with
a trade to approve. Johnson has not requested a trade, the executives said,
but the Yankees began discussions with other clubs when GM Brian Cashman made
a condolence call to Johnson after the recent death of the pitcher's brother
and Johnson told the GM it was important to him to be near his family.
Johnson's offseason home is in Paradise Valley, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix,
and he has family in California.

The Diamondbacks publicly acknowledged talks with the Yankees yesterday, when
team president Derrick Hall told MLB.com that Arizona GM Josh Byrnes "has had
significant talks with the Yankees, but we have not been able to make a match
at this point."

Arizona is generally considered to be flush with young pitching talent, with
Edgar Gonzalez, Enrique Gonzalez, Dustin Nippert, Ross Ohlendorf, Micah
Owings and Dana Eveland among the most attractive young arms. While the
D-Backs are mostly a youthful team, they could be looking to lure back
Johnson, their franchise icon, to spark interest from fans - Johnson won four
Cy Young Awards and a World Series ring with Arizona.

The Padres, meanwhile, could offer righty reliever Scott Linebrink, a player
the Yanks have admired. But he stumbled in the second half last season, which
may have cooled the Yankees' interest. Linebrink was 6-2 with a 2.74 ERA
before the All-Star break last season, but was 1-2 with a 4.64 ERA afterward.
One prominent agent said he had heard talk of the three teams being involved
in a possible deal in which the Yankees would get Linebrink.

The Dodgers are also believed to be involved in talks about Johnson.
Hong-Chih Kuo, the Taiwanese lefty who started Game2 of the NLDS against the
Mets, could interest the Yanks. The Giants are also believed to be
interested.


RJ交易傳言十分熱烈 希望能從響尾蛇農場的 Edgar Gonzalez, Enrique Gonzalez
Dustin Nippert, Ross Ohlendorf, Micah Owings and Dana Eveland 中撈一些回來..
就像雨刷那樣。  教士傳聞要用 Linebrink 來換。 巨人、道奇也都對RJ有興趣。
道奇傳言的交易人選是郭泓志! (驚)

RJ走了可能簽 Zito 甚至是 Clemens， 當然 Bora$ 知道我們有可能投入雞頭爭奪
戰中，也不放過可以撈更大筆的機會而放慢Zito下決定的腳步...




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※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) 
◆ From: 122.126.130.239
推 boy0:如果 Kuo 來 NY 希望有先發 ... 5 號 6 號也無所謂
→ boy0:有人不小心有狀況 Kuo 就有機會了 .. RP 實在不適合
推 chrislux:好熱烈阿，不過Hong-Chih Kuo!?
推 wizardbulls:通常不太可能排到第6號啦，如果小郭來到洋基
→ wizardbulls:我想也只有牛棚的份吧...= =a，人才實在太多了
→ asdfzx:現實點說 以郭的實績洋基根本看不上 即使收下 還排在天天P
→ asdfzx:後面吧 今年補了一堆投手 出頭機會變得好小 還是不希望郭來
推 LedZeppelin:去年郭在先發的成績比任何洋基投手都好
推 eigawa:樓上 去年他室先發了幾場= =
推 molemilk:現在NY不想花個16m養一個又老又傷的巨怪 而巨怪似乎又想
→ molemilk:回家打球 所以....就換洪七公來吧!
推 eilgreen:先發五場 29.1IP失10分 era3.07  好吧也算是對啦
推 iamjust:我比較好奇的是 道奇可能用一個前途看好且擁有台灣市場又
→ iamjust:等了他好幾年的郭來換一個又貴又剩一年又是不定彈老投手?
推 DesertEagleX:既然簽了Schmidt跟Gonzalez 再多一個老人也不奇怪
→ Tzylu:Colletti做很囧的交易也不少  XD
推 LedZeppelin:郭要證明的是他的耐久度而不是他的實力
推 secaep:看到有人提台灣市場,就想吐槽一下...MLB球團主要收入來源是
→ secaep:票房跟轉播金...而海外轉播金是30隊share的,試問台灣市場?
→ secaep:實力才是一切好嗎
推 oa0416:阿痛era0  可是不能這麼比吧...
→ secaep:郭必須減少保送,才能延長局數,勝場數也才能增加
→ secaep:雖然躲人打擊更是主宰勝場數的關鍵,想想小小郭蠻悲情的
推 wuhaha:如果交易的話 火箭就這樣跟RJ差身而過
推 iamjust:提升球隊知名度(在台灣)及週邊商品 如王建民/洋基 我想MLB
→ iamjust:對轉播金的興趣沒有其他來得大吧?還有如松板/紅襪
推 iamjust:當然這只是其中的一個考量 影響力沒有那麼大
推 arslane:樓上的朋友沒弄清楚重點...既然海外轉播金跟週邊商品收入
→ arslane:是30隊均分,那小小郭在道奇跟在洋基對道奇來說是一樣的.
→ arslane:不過小小郭要當一名好先發還是得提升局數,今年萊五局造成
→ arslane:的慘狀大家都看得很清楚了.
推 kauw:台灣市場才多大?
推 webberhan:台灣市場.....夜郎自大?
推 Solidsanke:台灣市場大概就像顆灰塵吧
推 richertkk:台灣新聞看太多了..人家注重的是實力好嗎..
推 tsming:呆灣市場？人家不要把台灣跟泰國搞混就很了不起了:P
推 Alberto:不用看Zito了 今天被巨人簽下 Bora$太屌了